The other crypto-fascism: how “Futurism” and the tech-right are making inroads into Latin America
Roughly 80 years ago, a similar “disruption and innovation” movement by the same name brought about the birth of fascism in Italy. The parallels are striking
Tech idealism, and its futurist fans, made grandiose sweeping promises for a better future: a solution to climate change, a destruction and rebirth of the global financial system via a crypto-currency revolution that would bring nations to their knees, and most recently, hype that Artificial Intelligence will disrupt the way we think about labor and organization across the globe.
They use phrases like “disruption”, “innovation at all costs”, “unlocking potential” and “inspiring the digital revolution” to push the next cutting-edge technology— and usually fail to live up to the radical change they promise.
Much has been written about the intersection of Silicon Valley technomancers and politics in the United States, such as Peter Thiel’s’ efforts to insert the tech sector into the White House, or Elon Musk’s transformation from an admired innovator into a purveyor of disinformation and ultra-right conspiracy theories.
But as most journalists and analysts focus on the influence of the “new tech-right” in US politics, especially as presidential elections near in November, the massive and growing influence of “futurists” on Latin America has gone far less noticed— as has their increasing influence on, and affection for, autocratic right-wing leaders in the region.
Disruption, creative destruction, and a ‘digital revolution’ in El Salvador
In 2021, a year after President Nayib Bukele sent armed soldiers into the halls of Congress in a bid to radically expand his presidential powers, the “coolest dictator in the world” was peddling dreams of “BitCoin City”— a hyper-modern metropolis, powered by thermal energy from the volcano on which it was to be built, and financed by crypto bonds sold by the El Salvadoran government to eager investors.
The country adopted BitCoin as the national currency, and launched a not-so-transparent trading exchange/wallet that his futurist fans swore would usher in a new age of individual empowerment and an economic renaissance in El Salvador.
The most enthusiastic supporters among the “orange-pilled”, a term BitCoiners use to describe themselves, predicted the move would begin a chain reaction that would eventually topple the world’s traditional financial infrastructure and the state control that comes with it.
A year later, in 2022, Bukele dissolved many civil rights of Salvadoran citizens by declaring a “temporary” state of emergency that granted broad powers to police and resulted in the arrests of tens of thousands and has been broadly criticized by civil rights groups.
The anti-crime measures were wildly popular, and Bukele overwhelmingly won a second term as president, despite that being prohibited by the Salvadoran Constitution.
And “maxis”, as those whose enthusiasm for crypto borders on fanaticism are called by the crypto community, flocked to El Salvador to support the digital revolution.
Like Silicon Valley futurists before him, Bukele promised a brave new world for El Salvadorans. It was an appealing dream for a citizenry who lived in a country wracked by violence stemming from civil war, crime, drug trafficking, and rampant corruption for decades.
But his brave new world also massively expanded presidential power and made El Salvador the country with the highest per-capita prison rate in the world.
Also like Silicon Valley futurists, his dreams of a tech utopia have yet to solidify into concrete achievements. Three years later, construction on BitCoin City still has yet to begin. And those “volcano bonds”, which Central America’s most charismatic strongman hyped for months on his carefully maintained social media accounts? No one wanted to buy them, so the government canceled public offerings— three times.
And Bukele has increasingly leaned into the culture wars championed (and bankrolled) by modern futurists like Musk and Thiel. And for their part, the tech-right has praised Bukele as well.
The movement seems to have reached a high tide moment globally, and as they grow, their ranks are increasingly populated by white nationalists, misogynists, authoritarian visions of social engineering, and radical anti-migration nativists.
Musk’s takeover of Twitter ushered in a massive increase in anti-black, anti-migrant, anti-Jewish, and anti-Muslim posts. His aggressive posting in favor of right-wing politicians like Javier Milei in Argentina, and Bukele in El Salvador, and against leftist leaders in the region, has also made him a hero of the Latin American right.
This isn’t the first time a movement whose members describe themselves as futurists has tried to usher in revolutionary change at any cost. The first time futurists turned to politics was roughly 80 years ago in pre-war Italy. The result was the emergence of fascism into mainstream European politics, and the 21-year reign of Benito Mussolini.
Futurism as Fascism
The term “Futurism” arose from an Italian art and philosophy movement that found extreme value in virility, modernism, dynamic change, violence, and novelty.
A group of artists, poets, sculptors, and political and social philosophers became hyper-focused on “disruption”, “speed” and “embracing the new” in their calls to usher in a new utopic age of man. They were equally obsessed with “strength”, “order” and “creative destruction”. The original Futurist movement bears a striking similarity to modern futurism, both aesthetically and philosophically.
The Italian Futurists quickly evolved from an aesthetic and social movement into a political one, growing increasingly authoritarian as they did so. They eventually became crucial supporters of fascism and vehemently supported Mussolini’s rise to power. They were rewarded by Mussolini with important positions in government, and their style was unofficially adopted by the dictatorship itself in everything from party logos to architecture.
Though they were obsessed with “progress” and the future, much like the modern tech-right they also espoused a seemingly contradictory nostalgia for a lost mythical golden age (a crucial component of fascist mythology). They spoke of yearning for a lost time “when men were men” and “order prevailed”, before what they perceived as the decay of an Italian society overwhelmed by decadence.
It is a thought contradiction that modern futurists share as well, who often call for a “retVrn” (sic) “to tradition”, and regularly employ memes calling for an imaginary lost Golden Age whose roots are direct quotes from fascist ideology.
Interestingly, some tech acolytes have drawn new inspiration for old ideas from a pop-history book, as have some in their ranks who openly call for a fascist resurgence.
Welcome to the 4th Turning
In 1997, Neil Howe and William Strauss published a book on pop sociology called “The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy”. The book posits that societies undergo “turning points”— roughly 80-year cycles (or four generations) in which a “strong” generation, tired of societal decay and facing a social crisis, overthrows the current ruling order to build something new and stable.
Over subsequent generations, according to Howe and Strauss, society becomes weaker and more degenerate, until eventually, another “strong” generation emerges to lead a new revolution and bring about lost stability.
The book was largely ignored (or criticized) by academic sociologists but found an enthusiastic audience among both right-wing US politicians, and tech leaders in Silicon Valley, who believed they were exactly the “strong” generation about to bring forth a wonderful and utopian new society.
The book puts the United States' last “turning point” as WWII. And stated at the time that the next historical inflection point would occur in the early 21st century. It should be stressed that the book is not inherently fascist, though parallels with fascist mythology are glaring.
But for some fans of Howe and Strauss’s “Intergenerational Theory”, it doesn’t go unnoticed that fascism completed its dynamic societal revolution roughly four generations ago as well.
And while crypto-enthusiasts are not a monolith any more than say, the Black community, migrants, or “rural voters” or any other large group of people, Howe’s book, perhaps because of its popularity among right-wingers, is often cited by crypto-enthusiasts eager to believe they are about to destroy an old world order and invent a new.
His ideas enjoy considerable popularity among the most fervent of the “orange-pilled”, and were brought up independently to PWS in conversations with two different crypto experts currently in El Salvador.
John Dennehey* lives in El Salvador and runs MyFirst BitCoin, which offers free instruction to communities in 46 countries in the use of crypto technology, with a focus on BitCoin. “It does liberate people from a global financial system which often uses duress, or even violence, to impose its will, especially on poor communities.”
“The potential for good here, and for real liberation, cannot be overstated,” he told PWS by phone. “But unfortunately, the crypto community also has its share of people driven more by greed than a desire to affect positive change,” he said.
A second crypto expert, who asked that his name be withheld for fear of damaging relations with the Bukele government, had a much darker view, however. “I still believe that crypto can be a powerful force for positive change,” he said. “But every day I see efforts by states to co-opt the movement, or use its inherent idealism to mask darker motives.”
He also believes that many in the crypto community, especially in El Salvador, are more concerned with momentum for their digital movement than a group that holds any specific political ideology.
“I got into this technology because I want to see more personal liberty globally,” he said. “But now we have ‘maxis’ who don’t care they’re supporting a dictatorship and emerging fascist government, yes, I choose the word ‘fascism’ intentionally.”
“If Bukele says he likes BitCoin, they like Bukele. Nothing else matters to them.”
As we got off the phone, I couldn’t help but wonder what those Italian Futurists, almost exactly 80 years ago, thought when Mussolini started praising their movement publicly.
*Editor’s note in the interest of transparency: John Dennehy was once a regular contributor for PWS. He left us, with our blessing, to pursue his BTC education project in El Salvador 3 years ago
The Big Headlines in LATAM
Our last three features have been devoted to Venezuela, and we’re still watching the country closely after accusations of fraud in elections generated mass protests, as well as police crackdowns.
President Nicolas Maduro has banned a series of websites and VPN (Virtual Proxy Network Providers) in the country, including “X”, which everyone really still calls Twitter.
Arrests of opposition figures have increased, as have detentions as part of “Operation Knock Knock”, in which neighbors alert authorities to "potentially seditious” behavior or “actions which inspire hatred”, a broad law often used in the past to jail critics of the government.
Human Rights Organizations have confirmed more than 1,200 arrests, though in public comments this week Maduro claimed the true number is “thousands”.
In Colombia, the bilateral ceasefire between the government and the country’s largest remaining rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN) expired last week. The two groups remain in official talks, but Colombia’s Ministry of Defense immediately announced a resumption of military actions against the guerilla group.
The ceasefire was a political victory for President Gustavo Petro, who promised to bring “Total Peace” to Colombia via negotiations with armed groups in return for their disarmament. The collapse of the deal is viewed by many experts as a serious blow to peacebuilding efforts in the country, which, at least officially, ended its 53-year civil war in 2016.
Spanish Word of the Week
Facho/a- “fashy”
The Spanish word for “fascism” is fascismo, and someone who espouses that ideology is a fascista , but if you spend a lot of time following politics in Latin America you will inevitably come across the word “facho” as well.
Translated loosely, it just means “fascist”, but it can describe both concrete and abstract nouns, and also serve triple service as an adjective.
A person can BE a facho. An idea can be facho. Or a political idea can “seem” facho. Spanish words often have a lot of versatility. Perhaps it’s best just to use a few examples to show how to properly use the word.
Facho no es gente - Fascists aren’t people
Uy, pero que idea tan facha! - Oh God, what a fascist idea.
Ese man es muy, pero muy facho - That guy is extremely “fashy”.
Here at PWS we oppose all forms of totalitarianism regardless of its political origin. But we hold a special loathing for fascism. Porque facho no es gente.
Stay free, piratas. Y hasta pronto!
